Swindon Town: February 2010

Hello Everyone and thanks for reading my latest installment.

February began then with back to games against Blackpool and first up was the FA Cup 4^th Round replay. I had made the same mistake as last season with my loanees (except one) and several were cup tied including last minute signing Fabio Zamblera from Newcastle, though in front of the home fans I was confident. The first 30 minutes we hit the cross bar no fewer than 3 times and one attempt cleared off the line before Blackpool went ahead after Sichi was robbed of the ball and of course injured at the same time. The second half started much as the first but eventually we got the equalizer through Brandy just before the hour. The game was heading towards extra time when Beardsley intercepted a through ball and then found Munoz all alone in the middle and he drilled one home from 30 yards! Finally we scored from a long shot! We now have a money spinning home tie against Chelsea in the 5^th round.

Blackpool returned 3 days later and we were keen to do the double over them. I decided to change both my central midfielders to “ball winners” and this seemed to have a controlling affect on the game as well as setting up chances for the front two. Brandy put as ahead after his strike hit the post and ricochet off the keeper just on the half hour. We continued to create some good chances and Brandy himself set up fellow striker Zamblera who powered one home from just inside the box to secure all three points.

The following Saturday was the biggest game by far since becoming manager and that was the visit of Chelsea in the FA Cup. Of course several players were either cup tied or injured so I put out my best available eleven. In front of a capacity crowd of 14,800 the first 10 minutes was quite an even affair but then Chelsea went ahead through of course Drogba as he connected from a corner kick. Minutes later another corner, a goal mouth scramble and it was 2-0 to the visitors. Our heads didn’t drop and Brandy had three good one on one chances after leaving the Chelsea defense flat footed, but nerves got the better of him and he failed to score. Chelsea dominated the second half going three up on the hour and our youth striker Seb Bromfield was unlucky not to get a consolation goal having hit the post shortly after coming on for Zamblera. We gave a good account of ourselves and that’s all that matters.

For our mid-week game we travelled north to Yorkshire to play Sheffield Wednesday. We got off to a great start with Brandy and Zamblera combining well to set up Romain Gasmi after 13 minutes. We continued to dominate the first half but a lapse in concentration allowed Wednesday to score two in the space of 3 minutes before half time. The Swindon locker room was not the place to be during the interval as I wasn’t happy at all but the team talk paid off with Gasmi scoring his second straight from the restart. Romain then completed a memorable afternoon by returning the earlier favour and setting up Zamblera for the winning goal. It was a great comeback and that result moved us into 3^rd place.

We are heading into a 4 game sequence against other promotion rivals the first of which was the visit of Birmingham City and some good news was that Jacob Mellis was fully fit and raring to go. The first twenty minutes had a real ebb and flow to it with both sides creating some good chances but a slip by Geoffry Adjet allowed Birmingham to take the lead after 26 minutes. We tied up the game ten minutes later when Mellis played a delightful ball through to Gasmi who didn’t need to be told twice what to do with it, 1-1. The second half we were unable to finish off any further scoring opportunities and succumbed to Birmingham pressure when Douglas was caught knapping and we fell behind again. The 2-1 defeat was a bitter pill to swallow as we suddenly had a chance at getting into second place but now we have dropped down the 4^th.

The last game of February was a trip to Newcastle who had slipped to seventh in the table over recent weeks and I was worried about their return to form. We got off to a sensational start as Jacob Mellis intercepted a poor clearance and fired home form just outside the box. Newcastle pilled on the pressure for the remainder of the half and were rewarded with two goals during injury time . The home side then easily shut down anything we threw at them for the rest of the game and we now have to live with two defeats in a row and face second place Wigan next.

Results at a glance

Current Top Ten: Coca Cola Championship

So a bit of a disappointing month where it seems our standard of play is at a lower level than the other promotion candidates. On the plus side there is much to play for and  not a lot of difference between 3rd and 7th place where we currently find ourselves.